Kremlin refuses to comment on testimonies of missing sailors after the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleetafter being hit last week by Ukrainian missiles, according to Kyiv.
“All the information is given by the Ministry of Defense. We have no authority to inform “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said at a time when neither the Russian Navy nor the Defense Ministry had released a report on the sinking of a Russian warship carrying hundreds of crew members.
In recent days, Russian-language media and social networks have published a number of testimonies about missing sailors, many of whom were serving in the military.
Dmitry Hrebets, a resident of Crimeawho posed as the father of a missing person, posted a message on the Vkontakte platform on Sunday asking why his son, a lottery winner, was in a war zone.
A woman, Julia Tsivovahas stated in many media that her son is missing.
Officially, the Russian fleet states that the crew of the Moskva was removed from the Russian cruiser before its sinking, without mentioning any casualties, wounded or missing.
According to Moscow, the flagship, which played a key role in coordinating Russian warships in the Black Sea, sank after a fire caused by ammunition. Kyiv says the ship was the target of a Ukrainian rocket attack.
On Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense released a video that showed a meeting between the commander of the Russian navy and about 100 lined-up sailors appearing as rescued members of the Moskva crew, which was capable of carrying a crew of up to 680 men.
The sinking of Moskva is considered a humiliation for Russia and its fleet, and even loyal Kremlin commentators are asking for explanations from the authorities, without receiving any response so far.
Russia admitted on March 25 that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed during a month-long Russian offensive in Ukraine, a number that has not been verified by independent sources or modified since.
In March, the Kremlin announced that lots had been mistakenly used in the fighting in Ukraine and that they had since withdrawn from the theater of operations.
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